Outbreak
by Gemzeee
Summary: Caitlin finds herself thrust into the world of the undead without a word of warning.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Behind closed doors

"JESSIE!" Caitlin yelled up the stairs, it was almost 8am and her niece was going to be late for school, yet again.

"I'm almost done! Just fixing my hair." she replied, slamming her bedroom door shut. Over a year ago Caitlin and Jessie had moved over to Atlanta from the UK; she had brought her thirteen year old niece with her after her father had fallen into alcoholism and started getting violent. Caitlin was only twenty two but she couldn't leave her behind so offered her a way out; a new start. There were days the two of them would argue constantly but Caitlin never regretted her decision for a moment; Jessie was more like her little sister and she loved her to bits.

She placed some ham sandwiches into Jessie's school bag and carried it to the front door to find her stood staring at her watch.

"Great. Now I'm definitely going to be late." she said with a smirk on her face. Caitlin tapped her across the head and pushed her out the front door, smiling along with her. The street was much busier than usual; people scattered about, rushing around.

"Looks like everybody is running late this morning." Jessie said, sliding herself into the passenger seat.

"Well, we need to knock this on the head. I don't want to get in trouble with your school, I've got enough on my plate with that manager of mine."

"You won't get in trouble, they don't care. They have hundreds of kids in that school, being late doesn't affect my work."

"Good. Swear to God Jessie you better keep your head down in that school. I brought you here so you can make something of yourself, okay?" Caitlin nagged, starting up the car. Jessie sighed and flicked the radio on, the news reporter was explaining about a mysterious disease that had taken hold of a local hospital, Jessie switched the station over and started dancing along to Katy Perry.

"Hey, I was listening to that!"

"You can put it back on when I get to school, there's only ever bad stuff on the news. I don't want to be depressed first thing in the morning."

Caitlin didn't have the energy to argue with her; she had also got up late this morning and had an eight hour shift with Queen Bitch, so it was safe to say she wasn't in the best of moods. She pulled into the school car park; Jessie reached over and gave her Auntie a cuddle and a peck on the cheek.

"See you later Cate, have a good day with the lovely Michelle." Jessie said, flashing her a cheeky smile and climbing out the car. Caitlin watched her approach her group of friends, then set off to work. The traffic had built up within the five minutes she had been at the school, there were cars queued up for miles so Caitlin drove off into a little side street in the hopes of finding a short cut. As she turned into another street she noticed a body lay on the lawn in front of one of the houses; she slammed on the breaks and jumped out of the car. The man was holding his neck, there was blood everywhere; it was oozing through his fingers.

"Oh God. What happened? I'll call 911." Caitlin said, frantically searching for her mobile. The man stared up at her; trying to reach out, his eyes were bloodshot and his skin was beginning to turn blue.

"I-It's.. my wife. She- she's inside. She's ill." he whispered, then began choking on his own blood. Caitlin managed to sit him up and dialled 911, once she knew they were on the way she made her way towards the house.

"Don't worry, I'll find your wife. I'll make sure she's okay!"

"N- No."

Caitlin pushed the door open and stepped over the pool of blood that was in the hallway; the house was deadly silent which made her feel a little uneasy. She tiptoed into the front room; the furniture had been turned over, almost as if there had been a chase, there was also spatters of blood along the wall. A sickening smell floated through the air; burning her nostrils and suffocating her lungs. She wasn't sure she wanted to carry on looking throughout the house and yet she found herself wandering into the kitchen. A young woman was crouched in the corner of the room, there was blood pouring onto the ground. Caitlin stepped back, becoming a little bit overwhelmed by the situation, she bumped into one of the dining chairs and the woman turned towards her. Caitlin froze as the woman dropped a dead cat to the ground, it had been devoured by this lady who had the evidence all over her face. She snarled, her teeth were black.

"I-I'm sorry. I just came to see if you were-" before she had the chance to finish the woman lunged towards her, Caitlin screamed and darted towards the door. She slipped on the pool of blood; the woman clambered on top of her clawing at her body, she struggled to keep the woman's face away from her own. All of a sudden a loud explosion echoed throughout her ears; a bullet pierced through the skull of the woman and she slumped to the ground.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Pandemic

"Are you okay ma'am?" the officer asked, placing his hand onto Caitlin's shoulder. She glared up at his face, unable to speak. The morning's events whirled through her mind; everytime she closed her eyes she could see the woman snapping at her face, blood dripping from her mouth. The officer signalled for one of the nurses to fetch her a glass of water and he took a seat beside her.

"I understand you're in shock but I need to ask you a couple of questions, can you answer them for me?"

"I-I'll try." she replied, rubbing her hands along her thighs.

"Okay, well first up Caitlin my name is Officer Halwood. I just need you to tell me what happened and why you were in that house."

"I don't know what happened! Some crazy woman attacked me! I was just trying to help, you know? I was taking a short cut to work because the traffic was horrific and I see a man lay on the ground, he told me his wife was inside and she was ill so I went to check on her... Then she.." Caitlin stopped, the image of the woman sprung into her thoughts, clawing away at her body. Officer Halwood handed her a glass of water and carried on writing his notes. All of a sudden Caitlin felt a wave of panic, she was over an hour late for work; as she pulled her phone out of her bag she saw that she had over ten missed calls from Michelle.

"Shit."

"Are you okay?" Officer Halwood asked, startled by her sudden outburst.

"No. I was due in work for 9... My boss is going to kill me."

"I'm sure she'll understand, go and give her a call. We can carry on when you get back."

Caitlin managed to drag herself from the chair and made her way through reception; she came across the small shop and wandered inside, she found herself buying cigarettes even though she hadn't smoked for over three years. Walking through the front doors of the hospital she embraced the warm sunshine on her skin, pulling a cigarette out of the packet and lighting it up she suddenly felt at ease. The first drag of the cigarette was the best, she smiled and turned to find Officer Halwood staring at her, laughing to himself.

"Can I help you?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Look like you're enjoying that." he replied, lighting up his own cigarette.

"Are you spying on me?"

"Not at all."

Caitlin wandered off and dialled Michelle's number into her phone, as it began to ring she took a deep breath, preparing herself for the ear bashing that was bound to come her way.

"Caitlin? Where the hell are you? I've been stood outside the bakery for over an hour now. You know I can't enter the premises on my own!" Michelle hissed through the speakers.

"I know, I'm sorry. I'm at the hospital."

"Well a word of warning would've been nice. I'm going to have to call Fiona now and wait for her to come in and cover your shift. This is a joke. I've had four customers asking why I'm not open. You're losing me money here."

"I'm fine by the way, thanks for asking. I'll keep you updated." Caitlin said, putting the phone down before she could reply. She was so annoyed; that woman was so selfish and she couldn't bear to hear her voice anymore. Not after the day she had had.

"Ready?" Officer Halwood asked, creeping up on her yet again. She stumped the cigarette out and followed him back inside.

Caitlin was taken to a small waiting room; she found herself alone in there. The doctors and nurses were running around frantically; more and more patients were being wheeled into the hospital on stretchers, Caitlin was beginning to get anxious. Officer Halwood entered the waiting room, a worried look was spread across his face as he sat on the seat opposite her.

"Okay, I have one more question for you Caitlin. Where you bitten or scratched during the attack?"

Caitlin let out a nervous giggle; she certainly wasn't expecting a question like that. Officer Halwood kept a serious face, he obviously wasn't joking.

"No.. I don't think so."

"But you're not sure?"

"Well I'm pretty sure she didn't bite me.. Can't see any scratches. Why? What's that got to do with anything?" Caitlin quizzed him, confused by the whole situation. She had been in the hospital now for over an hour even though she had explained she wasn't injured and they had Officer Halwood following her around like a lap dog, scared in case she left the vicinity. Nothing seemed to make any sense.

"Well, I'm going to get one of the nurses to run a blood test and then we'll see what happens from there." he got to his feet but Caitlin grabbed his arm.

"Wait a minute. What's going on? I don't need a blood test, I've told you that I'm fine. I need to go. If I don't I'm not going to have a job by the end of the day."

"I understand that Miss Bates but please be patient, I'll be back in a minute." He pulled his arm out of her grasp and made his way out of the door leaving Caitlin alone once more. She was feeling extremely anxious about the situation now and began thinking about the news report on the radio, what if they were worried she had the infection? What would happen to Jessie if they didn't let her leave? Caitlin couldn't control her anxiety, she jumped up and rushed out of the waiting room. As she made her way down the corridor she noticed most of the staff were wearing masks. She started to speed up a little, keeping her eyes on the ground. There were footsteps behind her, getting closer. A nurse rushed past her and into one of the ward's, Caitlin let out a sigh of relief.

"Hey! Miss Bates! Wait!" came Officer Halwood's voice from down the corridor. Caitlin refused to turn around, she had to get out of the hospital, she didn't feel ill and certainly didn't want to catch anything from being around all those that were. As he began to gain on her she found herself sprinting towards the exit, without a word of warning a huge weight crashed on top of her and forced her onto the ground. Before she even had the chance to grasp what had just happened she was handcuffed and hoisted onto her feet.

"What the hell? What's going on?" Caitlin asked, completely baffled. Officer Halwood shook his head and led her back to the waiting room where a nurse was sat waiting for her.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Long road to nowhere...

"I'm sorry Miss Bates, but we have to take certain precautions. How's your arm?" Officer Halwood asked, reaching out to take her wrist. Caitlin snatched it away and scowled, she was so angry and her head was pounding; she just wanted to lie down and forget the whole damn morning. She picked up her bag from the seat and stormed out of the hospital, just as she opened the door to her car Officer Halwood pushed it shut.

"Please Miss Bates, go and get your niece from school and go home. Lock your doors and windows until this passes." his dark eyes were filled with concern.

"Until what passes? What's happening?"

"I can't disclose any of that information, just take my advice. Please." and with that he walked away, Caitlin watched him disappear back inside the hospital and pulled her phone out of her pocket. She made a quick call to Jessie's school to let them know she would be picking her up early to take her for a dental appointment and then clambered into the car. The roads were jam packed with traffic; people had heard rumours of the infection and were panicking. Caitlin pulled up at the side of the road, it would only take her five minutes to run to the school and she could be sat in traffic all day. She stepped onto the pavement and began to run, people were watching her, worried she was infected and they began gravitating to the other side of the road. She didn't really care, she didn't have the time to care, if that woman had been infected this morning then she wanted to make sure Jessie was safe before it spread even more.

Caitlin burst into Jessie's science class; she felt everyone's eyes fix onto her.

"Can I help you?" Mr Ford asked, raising his eyebrow.

"I'm sorry, can I take Jessie Lomax please? She has a dentist appointment and we're running a little bit late."

Jessie got up from her desk, she gave Caitlin a puzzled look as she passed her at the door. As soon as they were a couple of meters away from the classroom Jessie turned towards her, "Well?" she said, sternly.

"Can I explain when we get to the car? It's been one hell of a morning."

"You look like shit."

"Watch your mouth!"

"Sorry. What happened to your arm?" she reached out and grabbed hold of Caitlin's wrist. Her arm was black and blue from when the police officer had tackled her to the ground. Caitlin shook her head; now was not the time and place to go into detail. Arriving back at the car Caitlin realised most of the traffic had vanished; she turned back towards the hospital to see police cars surrounding the building. Riot officers clambered out of vans in full protective gear, weilding guns and shields.

"What the hell is happening Cait?" Jessie gasped, unable to take her eyes away from the scene unfolding in front of her.

"Get in the car Jessie, we need to get out of here. NOW." An almight burst of gun fire echoed throughout the hospital; people were shouting and screaming, the police wouldn't let anybody leave. Caitlin started up the car and slammed her foot onto the accelerator, she knew they had to get out of the city, that's where it would spread the fastest. The two of them ransacked the house for supplies; they grabbed snacks, bottled water, pictures and a kitchen knife just to be on the safe side.

"So explain to me again why we're leaving if that guy told you to stay in the house?"

"Listen, this is far more serious than the media are letting on. I've watched films about this kinda stuff and I'm not sticking around here to see how it pans out." Caitlin informed her, she grabbed a change of clothes for the two of them and went outside to the car.

"So basically we're leaving our house because you've watched films about this kinda stuff?" Jessie said, imitating her.

"Well, better to be safe than to be sorry. Okay?" Caitlin threw the bags onto the back seat and was greeted by a rather pale looking man who was standing at the other side of the car. He was sweating profusely and had a wound across his chest; blood stained his white shirt and his eyes were blood shot.

"Help me." he groaned, making his way towards her.

"Jessie, find the knife."

"What? What are you talking about?"

Caitlin pushed her aside and grabbed hold of the kitchen knife; she held it out to the man who was now grunting to himself. His feet shuffled along the ground as he carried on approaching the two of them.

"Please stay back... Get yourself to the hospital. We can't help you!"

"Please." he begged, crumbling to the ground. Jessie ran towards him, Caitlin snatched her back and shook her head. She nudged his arm with her foot; the guy remained motionless.

"Get in the car Jess." Caitlin ordered.

"But- we can't just leave the guy here!"

"AHHHHH!" Caitlin screamed as the guy's hand clasped ahold of her ankle. His whole face had changed, his skin was grey and his eyes were almost inhuman. Caitlin swung the knife towards him, slashing at his shirt but the guy didn't let go. Jessie gripped onto her auntie and tried pulling her away; the two of them couldn't overpower him. He was a dead weight clinging onto her; she swiped the knife across again, this time it caught his shoulder but he didn't even flinch.

"Oh god, you're going to have to stab him." Jessie said, beginning to cry. "GET OFF. LEAVE HER ALONE YOU FREAK."

The guy managed to pull himself closer to her ankle; his teeth were inches away from her flesh when all of a sudden she felt somebody snatch the knife from her hand and plunge it into the guy's head.

"Jessie!" Caitlin gasped, but when she glanced up she came face to face with a scruffy looking man, he had a motorbike helmet on so she couldn't make out what he looked like or whether or not he was infected too. She stepped in front of Jessie and began backing up towards the car.

"Hey! Hey, it's okay. I'm not bit or nothin'." the guy said, handing the knife back over to Caitlin. He pulled his helmet from his head to reveal a mass of scruffy dark hair; his chin was covered in stubble and his watery blue eyes looked tired but he wore a friendly smile across his face.

"I'm Lincoln by the way, saw you ladies in trouble an' thought I'd come teh help you out. He didn't getcha did he?"

"Umm, no. I'm okay. Thanks." Caitlin replied, ushering Jessie into the car.

"British huh? Nice. I don't mean teh be rude but is there any chance I could catch a lift from ya? Need to get out of the city. That's if yer heading that way, I wouldn't wanna impose or nothin'."

"Listen, Lincoln.."

"You can call me Linc." he interrupted, flashing her another smile.

"Linc. I don't know you and with all this going on I don't really want a stranger sat in the car with me and my niece. I appreciate you saving my ass, I really do but I can't take anymore risks. Not where Jessie's concerned." Caitlin explained, feeling a pang of guilt. She handed the knife back to Lincoln; he slid it into his belt and picked up his helmet.

"I understand. Take care of yerself. Okay?" He began walking away, Caitlin watched him for a little while; she wanted to shout for him to come back but fear held her back. Jessie popped her head out of the window, "HEY! LINCOLN!" then she vanished back into the car, leaving Caitlin to face him. He strolled back towards her and stumbled over the lifeless corpse on the ground. He reached out to stop himself from tumbling and found himself beside Caitlin on the cold, cemented pavement. She glared at him and burst out laughing; Lincoln wasn't sure how to react to her, so he laughed along with her. He pulled himself back onto his feet and reached out his hand to help her up.

"You know what Linc? I'll give you a lift. Get in." Caitlin said, nudging his arm. She had a good feeling about this guy and if the disease got out of control they would need a good group of people to help them survive. The three of them sat in the car; reflecting over today's incidents in silence.

"So where are we actually going Cate?" Jessie asked, flicking through the collection of CD's.

"Okay, so we got Jessie an' Cate?" Lincoln piped up from the backseat.

"I'm not a hundred percent sure but I think we're best finding somewhere to stay outta town, we could go to Justine's house in Powder Springs? She's got a farm house just outside of town hasn't she?"

"She might not appreciate us turning up out of the blue.. We haven't spoken to her recently!"

" Well, we have to try. There's nowhere else to go."

Caitlin started up the car and took one last look at the place she had called home for the past year, she wasn't sure how long it would be until she could come back or whether she'd see this place ever again. She stared up at the front window; picturing her cosy little bedroom inside and imagined herself wrapped up under her duvet without a care in the world but that was far from the true reality; she knew they were on a long road to nowhere.


End file.
